Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Here's the underpainting for the last, or possibly next to last, painting of the Sky/Wind Series, as I've been calling it for a working title. Titling works is something that I forgot to include on my list of things to complete for an exhibit. Titling the exhibit itself is something else to do as well.

I surprised myself with the color on the underpainting. I knew I wanted rose/violet tones as a base to show through the top layers to come, but I didn't expect to like the underpainting color alone as much as I do. It'll be interesting to paint over. I'm planning deep teals and dark grays.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

For a while now as I've been working I've had an idea in mind of what my next exhibition might look like. Except for one, almost all of the paintings are finished, and I have a sketch for that new one and there are some details left on several of the others. Now that the gallery these will be showing in has settled in to it's new location, I have a better idea of how much wall space I will have and it's a good time to lay out what it might look like to hang them all together. I'm hoping to exhibit about 12 paintings and I also want them to have a flow and cohesion; laying it all out on paper will help me to see if everything works as a whole, and if I need to fill in any gaps.

In addition to making the Photoshop image above I also created a document listing each work, the dimensions, the spacing allowed between them, and notes about what still needs to be done, the date I plan to do it, and whether that is painting, edges, wiring, labeling, or signing. The exhibition is not until November, so there is more than enough time, however I'd also like to get onto new work without having to think about if and how it fits into a planned exhibition. It will feel good to nail down the last details and get on with writing the accompanying statement.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The painting above is included in The Best of TAG 2010 group exhibition. The opening reception was this past Saturday evening. It was wonderful to see a full crowd with both new and familiar faces. There were at least seven other openings happening at the same time so the parking lot was overflowing with the line of cars waiting to get in extending down the street all the way to the exit ramp and on the freeway. Many people said that they parked wherever they could and walked the rest of the way. Thanks to everyone who fought their way through the crowds to get there and my apologies to those that never did find a place to park and had to turn back. There is still plenty of time to see this exhibit. It'll be up through the 30th of this month.

We sold many signed copies of the book 100 Artists of the West Coast II, which includes the work of four TAG Gallery artists, myself among them. I think there are still a half a dozen of the signed copies left. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11am - 5pm.

Friday, January 08, 2010

As much as I enjoy the holidays I'm glad to get back to a regular routine. Perhaps due to all of the visualizing for the future, goal setting and planning, by the time New Years is over I can't wait to get to it and at the same time it seems like nothing is where it is supposed to be - or even where I dropped it when the holidays started. I've spent far too many hours this week pursuing activities like tracking down errant sketches, tubes of paint, and my supply of kneaded erasers. I was happy during the hunt to find the #4 staples I was looking for a month or so ago. In addition I have two new kittens (one of which is pictured above) meaning I've had to spend some time hiding electrical wires, rearranging furniture, and chasing down the dust bunnies kicked up in all the fun. So it has been a week of ironing out little bumps and stepping over tiny hurdles. I did begin to plan my November exhibition on paper, which I'll post more about next week. I also made a list of the X number of paintings I'd like to do this year, put a little thought into some new studio habits I'd like to develop (starting with scraping the center of the palette clean every day), and have had some day dreams about places where I might like to travel for inspiration.

Fine Art Greeting Cards

Books:

From San Diego to Vancouver, 100 Artists of the West Coast II covers 100 artists with over 400 full color photographs of their work. The collection includes art from private as well as public collections and installations, including the collections of LACMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art New York, and the New York Public Library to name just a few. I'm happy to be included.